Without Shades
by M14Mouse
Summary: Theo doesn't want students. They are loud, ask a lot of questions, and annoying. But sometimes, you don't get what you want and sometimes, that is for the better.


Without Shades

By: M14Mouse

Summary: Theo doesn't want students. They are loud, ask a lot of questions, and annoying. But sometimes, you don't get what you want and sometimes, that is for the better.

Disclaimer: Don't own them.

Theo didn't want any students. They were loud and annoying. They asked a lot of stupid questions if they paid attention the first time…they would have know the answer. He didn't want them. If they did want him, they knew where to find him.

Beside, he just wasn't teacher material. Casey said that he was too strict. Dominic said that he had no sense of humor. Lily said that they are wrong because he is like a tootsie roll…hard on the outside and a big softie inside.

Hmph.

Casey and Lily….by the spirits, even Dom and RJ were being teachers than him. But Casey bullied him into taking on some advance classes. There was something about stress and being busy.

He snorted.

Casey was lucky that he was such a good friend or he would have told him no. He also thought that Casey probably didn't want to be alone during the teacher meetings. Although, the advance classes weren't too bad, it wasn't something that he enjoyed.

Then he got talked into subbing for another class…a beginner class…with children. No, he didn't eat them. He did think about it especially when they wanted to see his animal spirit and ask him a million questions. He was going to mediate and hopefully, his bad mood will go away.

Why couldn't Casey get Lily to teach this class?

He was glad when the class was over and he was done. He thought that he was done but he had two little shadows following him. He was kind of amused on how they thought that they were being sneaky. He stopped in his tracks and turned around.

"Why are you two following me?" He said.

The two cubs stopped in their tracks and stared at him.

"Well…?" He asked.

The boy looked down at the ground while the girl was staring at his feet.

"We want to know….How do you talk to your animal spirit?" The girl asked.

"In the beginning, mediation helps. It clears the mind and allows you to focus. The more you do it, easier it is." He said.

Of course, there is more to it than that but it is a place that students often start at.

"Can we mediate with you? I mean...Can we mediate with you, Master? Because we really want to talk to our animal spirits," the girl said.

"Reese just want to know how to kick Cole…HMPH!" the boy said as the girl covered his mouth with her hand.

Heh…They kind of reminded him of Lily and him when they were younger.

"There will be no butt kicking. And I supposed…you can mediate with me as long as you don't make any noise or ask any questions. Understood?"

"Yes, Master Martin," the boy and girl said at the same time.

He gave them ten minutes before they would get bored and go away. But they surprised him. They mediate…sort of but for children, they did a good job. After they were finished, they bowed and ran off to their next class.

He thought that would be the end of it. He really should have known better.

After that, the children came every day. They came to mediate and their questions.

They wanted to whys, the hows, the wheres and the whens.

Where do animal spirits came from?

When will they see them?

Why is it taking so long?

At least, there were intelligent questions or ones that he heard a million times ago. He couldn't really give them the answers. Some things had to be learned. Of course, he had questions of his own. By the spirits, did he get answers!

He learned that their names were Reese and Victor. He learned their favorite colors (green and purple), their favorite foods (pasta and pizza), their favorite teachers and their least favorite teachers. He learned their habits. Reese tended to pick on her nails when she is bored. Victor can touch his nose with his tongue. For record, he had no idea how that conversation or fact of knowledge came to be.

He was content with how things were until Mr. Jefferson decided to bully Reese and Victor.

He heard from other teachers that Reese and Victor were trouble makers. He snorted to himself. They weren't troublemakers. They just stood up to anyone that bullied them. It was something that he applauded.

It was something that he didn't tolerate.

So, when he walked into them fighting, he had to do something about it.

Sometimes, you had to do nothing at all but be there in order to get some attention or make Mr. Jefferson to let go of Reese. Briefly, he checked over Reese and Victor to make sure that they were well.

"She started it, Master Martin! She…" Mr. Jefferson started to say.

He turned his attention away from them and turned to Mr. Jefferson.

"One should be wary about telling lies," He said.

He turned his attention back to Victor and Reese and frowned.

"Come along," He said as he turned to walk away. He didn't need to turn around to know that they were following him. He had no idea what he was going to do with them. The other teachers wanted to move them to Casey and Lily's classes. They were popular and crowded. Reese and Victor are too smart and too curious for those classes. They would get lost.

He couldn't let that happen.

Hmph.

"You know that the other teachers wanted to have you two switched to stop the fighting," He said as he stopped and turned around.

Reese and Victor looked dejected at his words. He tilted his head slightly at them.

"I am not going to be holding your hands. My master wasn't easy on me and I won't be easy on you. I expect you two be on time and…HMPH!" He said until Reese and Victor hugged him.

Why were they hugging him?!

"You are the best!" Victor shouted.

"We promised to be the best students ever!" Reese shouted.

Rule number 2…no more of that annoying noise. There was more than that rule but still…the noise hurt his ears.

At least, that is what he explained to Lily hours later. She just smiled at him and kissed his cheek.

"You are a tootsie roll."

"Lil…I am not!"

She laughed.

"Theo…I don't know why you hide it. You like them. You are willing to take them on as students despite what everyone said. There is nothing wrong with that. Personally, I think that you make a great teacher and Master Mao would have proud of you."

His face turned red at Lil's words.

He didn't want to become a teacher but somehow…along the way, he did.

End


End file.
